rFactor 2 Setup Guide (1 Viewer)

[rFactor 2]

Installation

• rFactor 2 is only available through Steam
• You need a 64-bit version of Windows 7 or above (32-bit is barely supported)
• You need around 20 GB of space (please allow extra space for mods)

At the moment there are 2 graphics versions available for rFactor 2

• DX9 - the most widely supported for mods, works very well
• DX11 - beta branch, limited mod support, but enables better graphics and VR - at the moment I advise against this version as it is unstable

As mods are a real advantage and pretty much necessary, it is strongly recommended to use DX9 until the most important mods are converted to DX11!


Launcher

If you downloaded your mod through Steam Workshop, it is very likely that it will be installed automatically. For all other mods, you will have to manually check if they have been installed - if not, mark them and click install, on the bottom left.

Not all mods have to be installed, some are automatically downloaded when you join a server.

If a mod causes a problem, try to uninstall/delete it first. If that doesn't solve the problem, delete the corresponding files in "...\SteamApps\common\rFactor 2\Packages" & "...\SteamApps\common\rFactor 2\Installed".

You can tweak most, but not all, of the settings during a session (whilst in the garage). You can find all available settings in 'Singleplayer' > 'Options'.

Most leagues in rFactor 2 require your real name. To set that, do this:
Go to the start page of the launcher (house symbol) and on top right, you should see your steam name, click on it. Then you can set your real name and in the end press "Save Edits". As nickname I use "Blue Monkey".


Graphics
Select an ISI/Studio 397 Track (eg. Sao Paulo), set the grid to maximum, multiclass, night and maximum rain. Start the race and check your ingame FPS (eg. Steam Overlay). During driving it should be a minimum of 60 FPS.

There are no simple "this or that improves frame rates", you will need to experiment and see how each setting works for you.

We strongly recommend to set "Special Effects" & "Soft Particles" to off, as they can cause huge framedrops when someone locks up. And don't turn "Shadows" to max, as it can cause artifacting. For full livery details, go to "player.json" -> open with notepad, find "Opponent Texture Override" and set it to 3.

Here are though some other recommendations:

Spoiler: From the SRC forum by Enzo Fazzi

Lowering detail of cars in the garage:
In the player.json file, search for "Garage Detail". Default is 0.5, I set it to 0.01.

Lowering detail of cars on track, while keeping the liveries clear:
In the player.json file, search for "Opponent Detail" and make sure it looks like the following:
"Opponent Detail":1,
"Opponent Texture Override":3
This lowers the detail of the actual car model, while keeping the livery at high quality.

Maximum number of headlights:
Search for "Max headlights" in the player.json file
Change to whatever you want, I personally have it at 50, which is plenty. Default is 256.

Rear view mirror render distance:
Search for "Rearview_Back_Clip" in the player.json file. The number is the render distance in meters.

Issues with stuttering/screen freezes:
Incase you have issues with stuttering or freezing, search for "Use Thread" in controller.json and set it to true. It had no impact on performance in my case.

Wheel Settings
First, load the correct profile in rFactor 2 - for a G27, the default force feedback settings are perfect. For your own particular wheel, check the RF2 forums for recommended settings or tweak them yourself. Here are our recommended keybindings:

• Check if the bars of throttle & brake & clutch are synced with your input
• Check in cockpit cam during driving if your wheel is synced properly
• If you use only paddle shifting, map a key to reverse
• Speed Limiter
• Brake Bias (F) & Brake Bias (R)
• Increment / Decrement Mixture
• Ignition & Starter
• Headlights
• Request Pits
• ABS & Stability Control & Traction Control
• Vote Yes / Vote No / Ping (for practice sessions)
• Camera Change
• Toggle Mirror (in case it bugs out)
• Toggle HUD / Stats, bind once to disable them
• Vehicle Labels
• LCD Mode & LCD Up/Down/Increase/Decrease (DPad recommended)
• Passenger select (Driver Swap)

It is strongly recommend to create 2 profiles, 1 for using paddle-shift and 1 for using an H-Shifter. For the paddle-shift profile, remove the H-Shifter bindings. Save the keybinding profile to names you can easily identify - eg. G27 Paddles or G27 H-shifter.


Network settings guidelines
We strongly recommend you to change the network settings according to following guidelines, in order to ensure maximum stability, also in the view of driver swaps and servers with high traffic:

• Racing on WLAN or mobile phone connection is prohibited in most leagues due to possible lagspikes andor packet loss
  
• For determination of your internet speed, use a speedtest tool, as ie. www.speedtest.net - all results and following values are in Bits, not Bytes! 1 Byte = 8 Bits.
• You can ignore the setting "CONNECTION TYPE"
• You should NOT go below 512 Kbps on the "UPSTREAM" or 1 Mbps on the "DOWNSTREAM" - if you don't reach that speed, please do not race in multiplayer. Some racing communities are actually demanding a speedtest from you to see if you have a good enough connection.
• If you exceed 20 Mbps on either down- or upstream, we recommend to set the value simply to 20 Mbps, as more is just not needed in rFactor 2.

3 examples:

1. Driver X reaches 800 Kbps down- and 200 Kbps upload speed in the speedtest - he is below the recommended minimum and should not race in multiplayer. He can still try though but most likely he will lose connection or the driver swap simply fails.
2. Driver Y reaches 15 Mbps down- and 1.5 Mbps upload speed in the speedtest - he thereby sets the "DOWNSTREAM" to 15.0 Mbps and the "UPSTREAM" to 1.50 Mbps in rFactor 2.
3. Driver Z reaches 300 Mbps down- and 30 Mbps upload speed in the speedtest - he thereby sets the "DOWNSTREAM" to 20.0 Mbps and the "UPSTREAM" to 20.0 Mbps in rFactor 2.

Additional files
For the SRC, it is recommended to use the "Ducker" plugin for Teamspeak, so you can always hear incoming whisper.


If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask us. We're here to help

Your rFactor2 Staff Team

 

[Jamesl91]

Driver Swap Guide

Requirements:

• Everyone has to have the 'passenger select' key mapped
• Everyone must be able to navigate in the pit menu
• Everyone has to have the same setup with the following exceptions, which are taken over from the car itself:
  • Brake Bias
  • Tire compound
  • Tire pressures
  • Rear wing
  • Traction Control setting
• Said setup needs to be assigned (so it has become default setup and automatically loads correctly in when you join the session)

How to get into spectator mode:

1. Join the server
2. Select the car
3. Click 'Back'
4. Go to network settings and switch 'spectator' to 'on'
5. Now click race and you should be joined as spectator

Don't forget to turn it 'off' again after the race!

The actual swap:

1. You should start with the following procedure 10 min before the pitstop (5min for VEC / VLMS see rules)
2. The driver swapping in, connects to the server - in case he was already on the server he must reconnect. Don't forget as the driver swapping in, you must be in spectator mode
3. As soon as he connected, he selects the car (with the correct driver) and presses the 'Passenger select' key
4. Both should see now: 'XYZ is now riding with you'
5. Then the pilot must select the name under 'driver' in the pit stop menu
6. Now the driver swapping in can press 'Race' (big button on the right) - most people do that when the car is entering the pits
7. Now the driver swapping in should change the camera into your desired one, if that's necessary
8. When the car stopped in the pit spot and the pitstops starts, the pilot should see 'losing control in XY sec', the driver swapping in should see 'gaining control in XY sec'
9. 3 sec before 'gaining control' the driver swapping in can press the accelerator and should prepare to shift up
10. As soon as you gained control, shift up once, as you get the car in neutral gear

 

[Hujkis]

@Jamesl91 this is amazing, how do I buy you a beer? Thanks!
Given that the thread is 1 year old, is there anything you(or anyone) would like to update?
I'm planning to fire-up the rfactor today for the first time

 

[Jamesl91]

This is slightly out of date so will be re-written soon. Some of the guide is irrelevant such as recommended mods and network settings

 

[Michael]

This is slightly out of date so will be re-written soon. Some of the guide is irrelevant such as recommended mods and network settings

I was slightly irritated as I couldn't find a DX9 option last night Installation took ages due to all the workshop items, so I just could try some laps at Zandvoort before bedtime... Need to figure out wheel and button config though, only have 400° rotation at the moment... HELP!

 

[m4nu]

we can do a little setup Session tonight, if you are interested @Hujkis and @Shepard

 

[Michael]

we can do a little setup Session tonight, if you are interested @Hujkis and @Shepard

Greatly appreciated @t0daY! If my daughter decides to not make an I-don't-want-to-sleep-drama, I shall be around at 8:30pm (CEST).

 

[Hujkis]

we can do a little setup Session tonight, if you are interested @Hujkis and @Shepard

awesome, will try to make it in time.

 

[Blue Monkey]

This is slightly out of date so will be re-written soon. Some of the guide is irrelevant such as recommended mods and network settings

This is incorrect, network settings are still recommended as written in the guide, or it might lead to failed driver swaps, dsync, disconnects, etc.
Mods that are not downloaded from Steam Workshop, still need to be installed as written in the guide. Mods from Workshop do handle themselves as long as you are subscribed to them.

What falls away is DX9 and for G29 there needs to be an additional note how to set up syncing the wheel as this is bugged atm. P.s. + setup tweaks + HUD update I have + plugins regarding setups + solution for mirrors
I must know, I wrote all rFactor 2 guides xD

 

[Blue Monkey]

To avoid that AI takes over the car during driver swap:

In the player.json file:

"AI Controls Driver":0,
"AI Controls Driver#":"Bitfield defining which drivers the AI controls (0=none, 1=driver1, 2=driver2, 3=driver1+driver2, etc.)",

default setting is "1", change that to 0 for all the team members.